Power transmitting drive apparatus

ABSTRACT

A power transmitting drive apparatus for distributing power from a single power source to a plurality of power consuming mechanisms such as fluid pumps. The apparatus includes a housing and a positively located power input means rotatably mounted in the housing. A plurality of positively located power output means are rotatably mounted in the housing but spaced from the input means. At least two intermediate drive means, each of which is driven by the input means and drives a plurality of output means, are rotatably supported in the housing by stationary support means of sufficiently great dimensions that the location of the intermediate drive means can be varied, thereby allowing different sizes of intermediate drive means to be utilized and various power consuming mechanisms to have different drive ratios.

United States Patent Williams POWER TRANSMITTING DRIVE APPARATUS John E.Williams, Oshkosh, Wis.

North American Rockwell Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Filed: Jan. 18, 1971 Appl. No.: 107,439

Inventor:

Assignee:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Schultz ..74/665 GD X Emrick..74/665 GA Quinn ..418/199 X Schou ..74/665 GA X Oct. 1 7, 1972 PrimaryExaminer-Leonard H. Gerin AttorneyJohn R. Bronaugh, Floyd S. Levison, E.Dennis OConnor and Richard A. Speer ABSTRACT A power transmitting driveapparatus for distributing power from a single power source to aplurality of power consuming mechanisms such as fluid pumps.

The apparatus includes a housing and a positively located power inputmeans rotatably mounted in the housing. A plurality of positivelylocated power output means are rotatably mounted in the housing butspaced from the input means. At least two intermediate drive means, eachof which is driven by the input means and drives a plurality of outputmeans, are rotatably supported in the housing by stationary supportmeans of sufiiciently great dimensions that the location of theintermediate drive means can be varied, thereby allowing different sizesof intermediate drive means to be utilized and various power consumingmechanisms to have different drive ratios.

8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTE D UB7 17 I97? 3. 6 98,265

SHEET 1 OF 2 EN TOR PATENIEBum 171912 3.698.265

saw 2 or 2 I INVENTOR.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is well known in the fluid pumping art toutilize a single source of power or motor to drive a plurality ofindividual pumps. Among the many readily appreciable advantagesattendant such an expedient are reduced power take off apparatusrequirements, pump'space compactness and simplification of constructionand maintenance. A common multiple pump drive arrangement is theso-called four pump drive wherein a single power source is utilized todrive four separate pumps. A typical four pump drive is disclosed byU.S. Pat. No. 2,432,825,issued Dec. 16, 1947.

As is common knowledge, commercially available fluid pumps are somewhatstandardized with respect to pumping capacity. Since fluid pumpapplications encompass an infinity of fluid flow and pressurerequirements, it often is desirable to drive similar pumps at variousspeeds and power levels. Multiple pump drive arrangements, however,conventionally have provided only for a uniform driving of the pumpsconnected to the single power input. In a four pump drive, for example,if different drive ratios were desired for the two sets of pumps, it wasnecessary to custom design the drive apparatus for the particular driveratios desired. A slight change in the required drive ratios wouldnecessitate a substantial redesign of the apparatus.

It is an object of this invention to provide a multiple drivearrangement whereby power is distributed from a single source to aplurality of power consuming mechanisms such as fluid pumps and wheredifferent desired mechanism drive ratios may be obtained by a simple andsmall variance in the manufacturing process and the substitution of akey part. This invention thus provides a multiple drive apparatus offlexible basic design that utilizes essentially standardized parts toobtain various drive ratios.

In particular, this invention provides a four pump drive in which thetwo pairs of driven pumps may have different and various desired driveratios but where the drive apparatus housing, input gear and outputgears remain unchanged. In addition, this four pump drive is of simpledesign and is easy to construct and reliable in operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A power transmitting drive apparatus fordistributing power from a single power source to a plurality of powerconsuming mechanisms such as fluid pumps and constructed in accordancewith this invention includes a housing structure defining a chamber.Rotatable power input means positively is located within the housingstructure and operatively is connected to a source of power. At leasttwo intermediate power transmitting means are rotatably driven by thepower input means. These intermediate power transmitting means aresupported within the housing chamber by stationary support means thatcomprise a part of the housing structure. Each of the intermediate meansdrives a plurality of rotatable power output means that are positivelylocated and supported by the housing structure within the chamber andare operatively connected to the power consuming mechanisms. Each of thesupport means has a sufficient dimension along a line extending betweenthe center of rotation of the input means and the center of rotation ofeach of the intermediate means that each of said intermediate means canbe mounted with its center of rotation at various locations along thisline. This allows the inclusion of various sizes of intermediate meansgiving various final drive ratios for the power consuming mechanismsdriven by each of the intermediate means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation view, with partbroken away and some hidden lines shown in phantom, of a powertransmitting drive apparatus constructed in accordance with thisinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now in detail to thedrawings, the numeral 10 denotes generally the power transmitting driveapparatus of this invention illustrated in the form of a four pumpdrive. This apparatus includes a housing comprising a generally flathousing segment 12 and a mating housing part 14 that is generallyC-shaped in cross section. The interface between housing parts 12 and 14is sealed with a gasket 16 and the housing parts are secured together byperipheral fasteners 18 and inter nal fasteners 20, the latter fastenersextending through part 12 and into a raised projection 22 (FIG. 2)extending internally from housing part 14. Together, these housing partsdefine an internal chamber 24.

A power input shaft 26 has one end thereof remote from apparatus 10connected to a source of power such as an electric or internalcombustion motor. (not illustrated). Conventionally, the connectionbetween such a power input shaft and the source of power is through aclutch member. Shaft 26 has a journal portion 28 that is rotatablysupported by a bearing 30 mounted in an aperture extending throughhousing part 14. As viewed in FIG. 2, movement of bearing 30 towards theright is prevented by snap ring 32, and movement of bearing 30 towardsthe left is prevented by its abutment against a dust cover 34 (partshown) that is secured to housing part 14 by fastener 36. The dust cover34 may be used to protect shaft 26 and its associated clutch from dirtor contact by other foreign substances. Shaft 36 extends through acentral opening in dust cover 34 in which opening is located a seal 38.

The end of shaft 26 located within chamber 24 has splines 42 formedthereon. Splines 42 mate with internal splines 44 of a power input gear46, centrally located with respect to the composite housing. As best maybe seen in FIG. 1, input gear 46 meshes with and drives each of twoidler gears 48 located on opposite sides of gear 46.

The mounting of the idler gears 48 best may be appreciated withreference to FIG. 2 wherein only one of these idler gears isillustrated. Housing part 12 has a thickened portion forming a raisedboss 50 that registers across chamber 24 with a raised boss 52 formed onhousing part 14. Bosses 50 and 52 have openings 54 and 56 respectivelythat extend through the walls of housing parts 12 and 14. Bearings 58and 60 are mounted in boss openings 54 and 56 respectively and theseopenings are sealed by snap plugs 62 and 64. Bosses 50 and 52 thusfunction as journal boxes for the idler gears. Additional details of themounting of idler gears 48 will be set forth below.

Each of the idler gears 48 drives a pair of power output gears 66 asbest may be seen in FIG. 1. The output gears 66 to the left of thecenter line of the apparatus are driven by one idler gear, while theoutput gears 66 to the right of center are driven by the other idlergear. As may be seen in FIG. 2, the output gears 66 (one shown) aremounted similarly to the mounting of idler gears 48. Housing parts 12and 14 have formed thereon bosses 68 and 70 respectively. An opening 69in boss 68 extends through housing portion 12 while an opening 71 inboss 70 does not extend through housing part 14 and thus forms only arecess therein. Bearings 72 and 74 are supported in bosses 68 and 70respectively and rotatably support output gears 66.

As may be seen from the output gear 66 illustrated in FIG. 2, this gearis formed with a central passageway 76 extending therethrough in whichinternal splines (not numbered) are formed. Passage 76 receives indriving relation a splined shaft 78 that constitutes the power inputshaft of a pump 80 having a flange 82 extending therefrom that issecured to housing part 12 by fasteners 84 that extend into pretappedholes 86. It is to be understood that although only one pump 80 isillustrated, in actuality there are four of such pumps, each pumpcorresponding to one of the four power output gears 66.

As best may be seen from FIG. 1, the thickened portions of housingmember 12 constituting bosses 50 generally are elliptical in shape withthe major axis of the elliptical shape coinciding with a line throughthe center of rotation 88 of drive gear 46 and the centers of rotation90 of idler gears 48. The thickened portions of the housing part formingbosses 52 are at least coextensive with the thickened portion of housingpart 12 forming bosses 50.

As illustrated, centers of rotation 90 also are the centers of thecircular openings 54 formed in bosses 50. It also is true that centersof rotation 90 are the centers of round openings 56 formed in bosses 52.Because of the elliptical shape described above, it readily may beappreciated that the location of centers of rotation-opening centers 90may be varied along the line extending through centers 90 and center ofrotation 88. For pur poses of clarity the outer limits of the possiblelocations of centers 90 are identified by reference numeral 92 and theinner limits of the possible locations of centers 90 are identified bythe reference numeral 94.

Since the design of drive apparatus 12 allows for a variance in thelocation of centers 90 and the center 88 is fixed, as are the centers ofrotation 96 of output gears 66, it readily may be appreciated that byvarying the location of centers 90, the size of idler gears 48 may bevaried. Of course, varying the sizes of the idler gears varies the finaldrive ratios of output gears 66 and pumps 80.

The flexibility in pump drive ratios yielded by apparatus 10 may beappreciated by considering an application of apparatus 10 wherein theleft hand drive gears 66 as viewed in FIG. 1 are required to have adifferent drive ratio than the right hand drive gears. During themanufacture of apparatus 10, the center 90 to the left of center 88would be at a first distance from center 88 while the right hand center90 would be at a different distance from center 88. Boss openings 54 and56 would be drilled accordingly and the idler gears 48 assembled wouldhave different sizes depending on the position of the centers 90.Naturally, an infinite number of combinations of final drive ratios foreach pair of output gears can be provided.

It thus may be appreciated that this invention provides a multiple drivearrangement for distributing power from a single source to a pluralityof power consuming mechanisms such as fluid pumps and where differentdesired mechanism drive ratios may be provided by the simple expedientof varying the location of the boss openings and varying the sizes ofidler gears assembled. These variances may be accomplished utilizingstandard parts designed to accommodate such changes.

In particular, the multiple drive arrangement of this invention isuseful as a four pump drive in which one pair of driven pumps may have adrive ratio different from the other pair of pumps but where the driveapparatus housing (prior to final machining), input gear and outputgears are identical regardless of final drive ratios.

lclaim:

l. A power transmitting drive apparatus for transmitting power from asingle power source to a plurality of power consuming mechanisms, saidapparatus comprising: housing structure, rotatable power input meanspositively positioned within said housing structure and operativelyconnected to a source of power, at least two intermediate powertransmitting means rotatably driven by said power input means andsupported within said housing structure by stationary support means thatcomprise a part of said housing structure, each of said intermediatemeans driving a plurality of power output means positively positionedand supported within said housing structure and operatively connected tosaid power consuming mechanisms, the improvement comprising each of saidsupport means having a sufficient dimension along a line extendingbetween the center of rotation of said input means and the center ofrotation of each of said intermediate means that the latter can bemounted with its center of rotation at various locations along saidline.

2. The drive apparatus of claim 1, wherein said housing structureincludes a housing main body and said support means includes a journalbox for each of said intermediate means.

3. The drive apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of said journal boxesintegrally is formed with said main body and is substantially ellipticalin cross section and has a long axis lying along said line and a shortaxis extending normal to said line.

4. A four pump drive apparatus for transmitting power from a singlepower source to each of a plurality of fluid pumps, said apparatuscomprising: a housing main body, a drive gear centrally located androtatably supported within said housing and being operatively connectedto a source of power, a pair of idler gears driven by said drive gearand supported within said housing on opposite sides of said drive gearwith the centers of rotation of said idler gears lying along a linepassing through the center of rotation of said drive gear, said idlergears being supported by bearings mounted in openings formed in bearingsupport webs extending from said housing main body, four power outputgears operatively connected to and driving four pumps, said output gearseach being rotatably supported in one quadrant of said housing with apair of said output gears being driven by each of said idler gears, saidwebs having a sufficient dimension along said line such that thelocations of said openings can vary and each of said idler gears can bemounted with its center of rotation positioned at various locationsalong said line, whereby different sized idler gears can be utilized todrive each pair of output gears.

5. A four pump drive apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said webssubstantially are elliptical in shape and have a major axis lying alongsaid line.

6. A four pump drive apparatus according to claim 5, wherein saidopenings are circular and each of said webs has a dimension along saidmajor axis such that the position of the center of each of said openingscan vary along said axis.

7. A housing for drive apparatus for transmitting power from a powersource to a plurality of power consuming mechanisms, said housing havinga main body defining a chamber, a centrally located main body wallportion defining a first opening and comprising a journal bearingsupport for an input shaft operatively connected to said power sourceand mounting a positively located drive gear on one end thereof withinsaid chamber, first boss means in each of four housing quadrantsextending from said main body wall into said chamber for supportingbearings for each of four positively located output gears that :isspaced from said input gear and is operatively connected to a powerconsuming mechanism, a pair of second boss means extending from saidmain body wall on opposite sides of said wall portion for supportingbearings for a pair of variably located idler gears, each of said idlergears being driven by said drive gear and driving a pair of said outputgears, said second boss means each defining at least one circular secondopening, the centers of said second openings lying on a line passingthrough the center of said first opening, said second boss means eachhaving a sufficient dimension along said line such that the locations ofthe centers of said second openings can vary and different sized idlergears can be mounted by each of said second boss means.

8. A housing according to claim 7, wherein each of said second bossmeans is substantially elliptical in shape and has a major axis lyingalong said line.

1. A power transmitting drive apparatus for transmitting power from asingle power source to a plurality of power consuming mechanisms, saidapparatus comprising: housing structure, rotatable power input meanspositively positioned within said housing structure and operativelyconnected to a source of power, at least two intermediate powertransmitting means rotatably driven by said power input means andsupported within said housing structure by stationary support means thatcomprise a part of said housing structure, each of said intermediatemeans driving a plurality of power output means positively positionedand supported within said housing structure and operatively connected tosaid power consuming mechanisms, the improvement comprising each of saidsupport means having a sufficient dimension along a line extendingbetween the center of rotation of said input means and the center ofrotation of each of said intermediate means that the latter can bemounted with its center of rotation at various locations along saidline.
 2. The drive apparatus of claim 1, wherein said housing structureincludes a housing main body and said support means includes a journalbox for each of said intermediate means.
 3. The drive apparatus of claim2, wherein each of said journal boxes integrally is formed with saidmain body and is substantially elliptical in cross section and has along axis lying along said line and a short axis extending normal tosaid line.
 4. A four pump drive apparatus for transmitting power from asingle power source to each of a plurality of fluid pumps, saidapparatus comprising: a housing main body, a drive gear centrallylocated and rotatably supported within said housing and beingoperatively connected to a source of power, a pair of idler gears drivenby said drive gear and supported within said housing on opposite sidesof said drive gear with the centers of rotation of said idler gearslying along a line passing through the center of rotation of said drivegear, said idler gears being supported by bearings mounted in openingsformed in bearing support webs extending from said housing main body,four power output gears operatively connected to and driving four pumps,said output gears each being rotatably supported in one quadrant of saidhousing with a pair of said output gears being driven by each of saididler gears, said webs having a sufficient dimension along said linesuch that the locations of said openings can vary and each of said idlergears can be mounted with its center of rotation positioned at variouslocations along said line, whereby different sized idler gears can beutilized to drive each pair of output gears.
 5. A four pump driveapparatus according to claim 4, wherein said webs substantially areelliptical in shape and have a major axis lying along said line.
 6. Afour pump drive apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said openingsare circular and each of said webs has a dimension along said major axissuch that the position of the center of each of said openings can varyalong said axis.
 7. A housing for drive apparatus for transmitting powerfrom a power source to a plurality of power consuming mechanisms, saidhousing having a main body defining a chamber, a centrally located mainbody wall portion defining a first opening and comprising a journalbearing support for an input shaft operatively connected to said powersource and mounting a positively located drive gear on one end thereofwithin said chamber, first boSs means in each of four housing quadrantsextending from said main body wall into said chamber for supportingbearings for each of four positively located output gears that is spacedfrom said input gear and is operatively connected to a power consumingmechanism, a pair of second boss means extending from said main bodywall on opposite sides of said wall portion for supporting bearings fora pair of variably located idler gears, each of said idler gears beingdriven by said drive gear and driving a pair of said output gears, saidsecond boss means each defining at least one circular second opening,the centers of said second openings lying on a line passing through thecenter of said first opening, said second boss means each having asufficient dimension along said line such that the locations of thecenters of said second openings can vary and different sized idler gearscan be mounted by each of said second boss means.
 8. A housing accordingto claim 7, wherein each of said second boss means is substantiallyelliptical in shape and has a major axis lying along said line.